The Idaho Beef Council will debut a new commercial during the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Capital Press

POCATELLO, Idaho — The Idaho Beef Council has produced a new commercial to air statewide during NBC’s coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

The commercial is scheduled to debut during the Feb. 7 opening ceremony, though the contract makes no guaruntees, said Idaho Beef Council Executive Director Traci Bracco.

Bracco unveiled the commercial, entitled “More than a Mom,” at a Jan. 16 Beef Summit in Pocatello. She explained the council ran a TV ad during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, and ratings showed Idaho had one of the nation’s highest percentages of households tuned in.

In 2012, the council’s commercial aired only during the first two weeks of the games. The new commercial will air throughout all three weeks of the upcoming games, and more frequently per day.

Bracco said the council’s TV budget for the fiscal year, at about $70,000, is roughly the same as during the previous year. She said the council, which typically runs commercials during each quarter of the fiscal year, cut back on TV ads during other seasons to emphasize the Olympics. She said Olympic ratings are about three times higher than normal prime time programming.

As a nonprofit organization, the council is also entitled to free “bonus” ads, which are typically run during off-peak hours at a station’s discretion.

Bracco explained the council is working through a Boise media agency, Drake Cooper, which has pooled its dollars with advertising investments by other businesses to maximize exposure.

The new commercial was filmed in a single day on Jan. 10 and came under the council’s $15,000 budget, Bracco said. She emphasized the average commercial costs anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 to produce.

The commercial targets the millennial generation and features a busy mom who “wears many hats” but still prioritizes making a nutritious dinner for her family — a top sirloin roast cooked medium rare. The council made no mention of Idaho and delayed showing its seal until the end of the commercial in case other beef councils also wish to use it for their own promotions.

The previous commercial was shot in 2010, emphasizing that Idaho beef producers have been putting food on dinner tables for more than a century. Both commercials will be aired in rotation for the next few years, Bracco said.

Bracco said the council can capitalize on opportunities such as the Olympics because of a 50-cent increase in producers’ checkoff fee, imposed in 2009.

Kevin Jones, a council board member who is president and CEO of Intermountain Beef in Eden, said Idaho is a small market, which makes Olympic commercials much more affordable.

“We think there will be a lot of family type viewership,” Jones said. “It seemed like a very good opportunity to target those millennials.”